Oct, 29, 1891.1 



FOREST AND STREAM 



^89 



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Antelope and Deer of America. By J. D. Caton. 

 Price $2.50. Wing and Glass Ball Shooting with the 

 Rifle. By W. C. Bliss. Price 50 cents. Riffle, Rod and 

 Gtm in California. By T. S. Van Dyhe. Price $1.50. 

 Shore Birds. Price 16 cents. Woodcraft. By "Ness- 

 m.uk.' Price $1. Trajectories of Hunthig Rifles. 'Price 

 50 cents Wild Fowl Shooting; see advertisement. 



The full texts of the game laws of all the States, Terri- 

 tories and British Provinces are given in the Book of the 

 Game Laws. 



AMONG THE WILDFOWL. 



THE sports of an outdoor life are many; and fortunate 

 it is that there is such variety, for each one of us 

 may choose that which best suits his taste, Wiidfowling 

 has its devotees, and we will ask that you spend the day 

 with us in our blind among the brown sedge grass. 



True, 'tis not a perfect day for ducking, rather too 

 calm; but the air is crisp and cool, and those "sheep- 



too late — an elegant shot too. Now keep your eyes peeled, 

 there are more where he came from and they will soon 

 be along. There! take him! Bang! Splash! among the 

 decoys, "a clean kill." Stand up and stretch your legs, 

 while I fetch him. If we let him drift like enough the 

 gulls will tear him badly before he comes ashore. By the 

 way, did you ever know a dead duck will drift the way 

 he is headed almost every time? I have not always found 

 it so myself, but some of the old baymen will swear to it. 



Down! Quick! Here they come; little suspicious, eh! 

 I wish we had a larger show of decoys. Keep still! they 

 are swinging in again, see 'em set their wings. No! off 

 again, evidently not satisfied yet. Now lookout! they 

 mean business this time. Now! and as with outstretched 

 necks, fluttering wings, and feet thrown forward they 

 bunch over the decoys, we let them have it. 



Did you ever cripple a shelldrake? Well, of all the 

 flouncing and spluttering I ever saw they make the most. 

 Knock one out of a flock and the moment he strikes the 

 water he will flounce around like mad for a moment, and 

 then sit motionless as though paralyzed with his sudden 

 fall. The instant you show yourself, however, presto! 

 he's under, and it takes lively work to stop him. At times 

 he will have as many lives as a cat, and unless you hit 

 him just where he lives he will carry away a pile of shot 

 in his tough old carcass. 



Come! let's take up and get home. We've had enough 



Many a time, and oft, have my friend Albertson and I 

 sent our compliments from Shell Point and the Goose 

 Box, below Salt Cove, as well as other choice spots in the 

 Great Back Bay, from our heavy 10-bores, in the shape 

 of lioz. No. 4 shot, backed by odrs. powder, to a wary 

 caavasback— heard the '"biff" of the shot as they struck 

 him amidships, saw abundant feathers floating down the 

 wind, and heard the "tchuck" of the quarry as he struck 

 the water, as dead, apparently, as ever duck was killed — 

 only to see him right himself up out of reach, discover 

 where his trouble came from and forever disappear from 

 view! 



Mr, Townsend has evidently been there, and is to be 

 congratulated for so truthfully depicting the scene and 

 giving such moderate utterance to his sentiments as 

 "You Son of a Gun," GEORaE McAleek. 



WOKCESTEB, Mass, 



WISCONSIN GAME. 



MILWAUKEE, Oct, 32,— From all sides come pour- 

 ing in reports of the flight of the wildfowl, good, 

 bad and indifferent. 



Water is undeniably very low. Without doubt this 

 will materially in j ure the shooting on migratory birds, 

 as they will follow the Mississippi more closely in their 

 southward flight. 



AMONG THE WILDFOWL.— YIII. 



BROADBILLS— A TRIFLE SUSPICIOUS.-" What do tou fellows sat ? Shall we try it ?" 



skins" floating up in the northwest sky may give us a 

 breeze ere long and set the ducks to moving. 



There is often hard work in ducking. Cold weather 

 makes the fingers numb, and in the old days of muzzle- 

 loaders the putting on of percussion caps was often a 

 difiicult as well as a painful task. Oh, those "old days" 

 and "old guns." Who does not remember what a trouble 

 it was to load, when after a day's sport, the barrels were 

 so foul with constant firing that the wads could hardly 

 be driven home? We used a 121bs. 10 -gauge muzzle- 

 loader then, made by John MuUins, and to drive the 

 charge home effeotuallv we had a stout hickory rod, at 

 least Sin. longer thau the gun barrels, and with this, no 

 matter how foul the gun became, we generally suc- 

 ceeded in driving the charge down. While the breech- 

 loader does away with all these impedimenta and en- 

 ables one to be more at his ease, still the "old boys" with 

 their "old ^^ms" used to "get there," and there was just 

 as much deLght in "downing" the fowl then as now. 



In a snug blind on some sedgy point, how soul-satisfy- 

 iag it is to lie at full length and hear the wind piping 

 through the reeds and grass, to sniff the salt breeze and 

 see the scurrjdng clouds flying overhead, and now and 

 again feel the thrill of success as a good shot makes the 

 blood bounce tbi-ou^h the vein-?. It is worth all the 

 rheumatic pains and aches of later years. Well, if not 

 all, at least most oc them. The Doctor tells me that my 

 gunning for du^ks, lying out in blinds in all sorts of 

 weather, laid the fouadation of my rheumatism. Be it 

 so, I've had lots of fun. 



Here comes the breeze at last, and there goes a bunch 

 of broadbills — one can always tell them as far as he can 

 see, for they fl^y compactly, rarely scattering or stringing 

 out like other fowl. Wh.isht-t-t! I didn^t see him untU 



for to-day, and to-night you can lie between the sheets 

 and dream it all over again: you will hear the whispers 

 of the wind in the sedge, and see the quivering foam 

 flakes clinging on the edges of the blind, even sniff the 

 brine-laden breeze, and in the morning take the train for 

 town with the record of another bright day, carefully 

 treasured in memory's note book for future reference. 



Wilmot. 



The many and valuable features that appear in rapid 

 succession in the columns of Forest and Stream deserve 

 the warmest commendation from its readers. Such ver- 

 satility and enterprise must touch a responsive chord in 

 its army of sportsmen readers, and it emphasizes the 

 fact that their favorite journal is still well abreast of the 

 times, and although its years of adolescence are past it is 

 still full of energy, virility and ambition to excel. No 

 one feature that has enriched its pages in recent times — 

 and it has furnished many that have contributed to the 

 writer's pleasure and benefit — has f m-nished us so much 

 entertainment as the sketches of Mr. Townsend, "Among 

 the Wildfowl." We desire our thanks to go on record 

 not only to Mr. Townsend for the admirable truthfulness 

 and suggestiveness of his sketches, and for the labor of 

 preparing them, but also to Forest and Stream for 

 placing them before its readers. 



They are admirable in their conceit, and to gunners of 

 experience among the sea fowl of the coast of Virginia 

 and North Carolina, they appeal with all the force of 

 personal experience and serve to recall vividly many a 

 pleasant day and thrilling experience. They are all true 

 to life, but the one in issue of Oct. 1 came home with 

 more force to me than any of the others. I have turned 

 to it time and again and as often enjoyed a hearty laugh. 



A party of three leaves to-morrow for Marquette, 

 where they will spend a few days among the Pucka way 

 canvas, redheads and bluebills. 



Messrs. Chapman and Atwell have recently returned 

 from their annual trip to Minnesota, where they had 

 royal sport with the snipe and duck. Chickens they re- 

 port as being very scarce. 



Eecent shooters from Poygan Lake report the flight 

 just on, but the birds very hard to get at, owing to the 

 low water. 



Last Monday morning I saw a magnificent string of at 

 least 100 jacksnipe, to say nothing of a large bundle of 

 ducks, bluebills, widgeon, butterballs, etc. The snipe 

 were being borne upon the broad shoulders of Louis 

 Aner, who, with his party, spent Sunday at Pewaukee, 

 where his shooting box is situated. 



One sometimes sees amusing things even on "blue 

 Monday." As I left the St. Paul depot for my office on 

 the morning of the 19th, an object just in advance of me 

 arrested my attention. It was a tall, thin youth clad in 

 the height of fashion. His short overcoat allowed the 

 wind (which by the way was anything but springlike) to 

 gambol with the many folds in his trousers. From one 

 shoulder there depended a dainty russet bag such as a 

 lady might carry on a shopping excursioQ. Over the 

 other shoulder was borne a tiny .2^cal. Flobert rifle, 

 while in his hand he proudly carried a string of four 

 rabbits. 



Considerable activity is being shown among the shoot- 

 ers in Oconomowoc just now. While in that city last 

 week I heard of several very fair bags of woodcock hav- 

 ing been made lately. L. J. Stone of that place has lately 

 returned from Sioux City, Iowa, where he has been dur- 

 ing the two weeks past. Quail are quite plentiful there ^ 



